A new Columbarium is now adorning the Madill Cemetery, thanks to a recent donation from Huntsville residents.
According to officials, Helen and Wilf McQuinn donated the Madill Church Columbarium – a structure for the public storage of urns containing human remains. It features a central monument memorializing Helen’s parents, Etta and Wilson Cairns, and Wilf’s parents, Gladys and Bill McQuinn.
Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock says they are grateful for the donation.
“The Madill Cemetery is a very important part of the history of our Town – a place of remembering those who have gone before, including some of the region’s early pioneers,” said Alcock. “We hope that this monument will serve not only as a lasting reminder of the McQuinn and Cairns families to our community but also as the cherished final resting place of other Huntsvillians.”
Officials say the recent Columbarium donation provides means for an additional interment service, granting the cemetery better economic viability.
They add Colleen MacDonald, former manager of parks and cemeteries, and Steve Sanderson, owner of Signature Memorials, collaborated to achieve an overall meaningful appearance with “spacious, high-quality, noticeably thick granite.”
“This monument also denotes historic significance by a meaningful image of the Madill Church inlayed on black granite. The apex features a monumental carved capstone perfectly modeling the church’s cedar eve and lintel,” officials say.
Officials say the Madill Church Preservation Society provided design elements through Rob Leverty, Ontario Historical Society.
“These considerations have given the cemetery another fitting point of interest,” say officials.
